Thanks to Evelyn for directing my attention to a few crazy, somewhat unconventional fitness tips. Here are a few:
- Don't exercise with your BFF. I actually agree with this one. If a friend gets you to the gym, that's great. But don't sit and chat! You will work out at a much lower intensity. A great solution? Group fitness. You're there together, but you're doing the work out at your own level of intensity!
- Wear RED! I've never heard this one. Supposedly the colors red and orange cause certain light waves to enter the eye. They convert to electrical impulses in the brain, which increase body temperature temperature, energy levels, and appetite (does that mean that red makes you hungrier, too? There's a new diet for you...the NO RED diet...except when working out!) So you'll be able to work out longer (and harder) if you wear red! Anyone want to test the theory?
- Drink pickle and pineapple juices to help with recovery! It makes sense, but gross! Pickle juice? I guess the salt and vinegar in pickle juice help muscles recover from sodium loss and decrease cramping. Isn't that what gatorade is for? Pineapple juice (which I'm much more willing to try) can also reduce post-workout inflammation. Enzymes found in pineapple juice help with lactic acid buildup in the muscles. Interesting.
- Run barefoot. I'm not going to promote this one. Don't do it. I'm all about GOOD RUNNING SHOES. Shoes can take the broken glass. My feet? Not so much.
- Shout empowering affirmations while you workout. I would love to walk into a gym to hear the members chanting, "I. AM. STRONG. NOW!" with each repetition. IntenSati is a fitness program which means "moving meditation." The idea is to use the mind, and more importantly, the voice to intensify workouts. While jumping, lunging, whatever, you repeat a single statement such as "I. CAN. DO. THIS." IntenSati creator Patricia Moreno says, "The repetition of a single statement moves you into a state of focused awareness." She claims these motivational chants boost emotional strength, increase self-confidence, and distract participants from feeling fatigued, which increases the effectiveness of their workouts. I like it. Try it!
For the wisdom behind these unconventional ideas, and more, click here.
What do you think? Are you willing to wear red and drink pickle juice to improve your workout? What other strange workout rituals have you heard of (or practice)?
7 comments:
My boys actually begged to drink pickle juice one day because my husband told them the BYU football team does it.
They did, and it grossed me out. They, however, loved it. Weirdos.
I thought those tips were pretty dang interesting! I'm going to wear red from now on and I'm going to drink pickle juice! Does it matter if you HATE pickles?? Oh and I saw a story on a guy that's run thousands of miles barefoot, even in the snow. He says he has no more back, knee and joint pain! Interesting... frost bite anyone??!
So I should take my shoes off, wear red, pour myself a nice cold glass of pickle juice, and do it all by myself. Hmmmmm....interesting! After we do this, I think we can all say we've really done it all!!!
Pickle juice? Gross besides I hate drinking my calories, it's such a waste. And I love comfortable running shoes. I won't budge on that one. As far as chanting to myself. I know it works, there's Nothing like Postive Affirmations:) Course I don't actually say it out loud, I just quietly chant to myself. And the red thing. I gonna have to try it.
Yes--red makes you hungry. A girlfriend told me this after painting her BEDROOM red (yes, for that reason...) Love the moving meditation tip--I'm already a fan of that one.
My older sister tricked me into drinking some kind of pickle juice, lemon juice who knows what else combination when I was little, so I may skip that one. As for the empowering affirmations, it worked for me during labor when the midwife told me to wait to push, "I can wait, I can wait, I can wait" I chanted over and over till it was time to push again, so why shouldn't it work for exercise?
Yeah, I read this one a little while ago off MSN. The wearing red one surprised me and the run barefoot thing (I have flat feet...so I don't know.) I'm not going to drink pickle juice though. I'll keep to Gatoraid when needed. I like pickles, just not that much! I've always done the empowering affirmations thing. Mine are probably strange though. "I own this machine! It's MY machine! I'm gonna kick its butt too! How you like that! Wa-hi-ya!" Yeah, I try to keep these things in my head. :)
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